


Broken

by ShayneyL



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: AU, Child Death, Divorce, Gen, Prompt Fic, Suicide Attempt, Whumptober 2020, broken down, broken trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26981182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayneyL/pseuds/ShayneyL
Summary: Captain Harry Kim has to transport a prisoner to Starbase 11. Little does he realize it's his old friend, Tom Paris.Not really aStar Trek: Picardstory, but it's a vision of how things might be for Tom and Harry in the Picard era.  (I actually haven't seen much ofPicard, so it's probably not canon-compliant.)
Relationships: Harry Kim & Tom Paris
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Whumptober prompt #12, "Broken Down" and "Broken Trust."

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Captain Harry Kim headed down to the brig of the _Rhode Island_ , to see how the prisoner was doing. He'd been captured by the authorities on Sherman's Planet; the _Rhode Island_ had picked him up and was transferring him to Starbase 11. The man, known only as "Red," was supposedly a key player in the Ravsai, one of the criminal gangs that practically controlled this region of space.

The head of security, Lt. Griffin, was standing guard. Well, he was supposed to be. It appeared he was tormenting the prisoner instead.

"Stop that!"

Griffin, who had just hit the prisoner, and was about to hit him again, froze. He clearly hadn't expected the captain's presence. "He's a criminal," Griffin protested. But he stepped back.

"We don't torture or abuse prisoners in Starfleet," Harry said. He should put him on report, maybe even demote him, but he knew the man had lost family in a terrorist attack, and was inclined to cut him some leeway. "Look, Griffin," he said. "I understand how you feel." Boy, did he. "Just…let me handle this. Wait outside."

Griffin glared for a moment, then nodded. He lowered the force field, and left to take a station outside the door to the brig.

Harry raised the force field again. He waited until the doors shut, then turned his attention to the prisoner, who had picked himself up from the floor and was now sitting on the bench in his cell. He was a big man, older, scruffy, and wearing tattered clothing. Poverty had become quite common in this sector.

"You'll have to stay here in the brig until we get to Starbase 11," Harry said. "The facilities are through there. No replicator, but if you want anything, I'll replicate it for you, as long as it's not a security risk."

The man looked up. His blue eyes looked familiar.

"Harry," he said. "Don't you know me?"

For a moment, Harry didn't. Then his brain made the connection, and it all came flooding back. His one-time best friend, on _Voyager_. He'd lost contact with Tom years ago. As had everyone else who knew him.

"Tom," he breathed. "You're Tom Paris!"

"The one and only." Tom sketched a bow.

The past twenty years hadn't been kind to him. He was ragged, worn, with scars that suggested lack of access to modern healthcare. His hair and beard were unkempt, the mix of gray and ginger leaning more toward gray.

But then, the past twenty years hadn't been kind to Harry, either. Though his scars were in the inside, where they didn't show.

"So you're living the dream, eh?" Tom said. His eyes were on Harry's rank insignia. "Finally captain of your own starship."

Harry shrugged. It had been the dream of his long-lost youth. The reality…well, he kept at it because he didn't know what else to do with himself. "Do you need medical care? Maybe a change of clothing?"

"I wouldn't say no to a pizza with pepperoni and Kavarian olives."

Harry smiled a little, despite himself. That had been one of Tom's favorites, back in the _Voyager_ days. He replicated the requested pizza, then lowered the force field and handed the tray to Tom. "Thanks." Tom put the tray down on the bench beside him.

Harry raised the force field, and sat on Tom's other side. It was a mistake. Tom grabbed him by the arm and neck. "If you yell, I'll break your neck. I can't believe you're still so innocent, Harry. After all these years, you haven't changed."

"Griffin is right outside the door. You won't get far."

"But you'll be dead before he gets in here. Lower the force field."

Harry wasn't so sure about that. He was confident he could break Tom's grip. He'd been a champion wrestler at the Academy, and now had years of Starfleet training on top of that. But he found he couldn't be bothered. "Go ahead and kill me, Tom. I'm not lowering the force field."

There was a long pause, then Tom released him. "I take it back," he said. "You have changed."

"Haven't we all."

Tom didn't answer. Instead, he picked up a slice of pizza and began eating it like he was starving.

"Didn't they feed you at the Sherman's Planet detention center?"

"Not like this. It's been years since I had pizza." Tom began shoving another slice in.

"So what are you doing out here? You could have stayed on Earth, had pizza for dinner every night if you wanted."

"I had to get away, Harry. There was nothing left for me on Earth."

Not even his wife and child. Harry knew Tom and B'Elanna had divorced, and B'Elanna had returned to Q'onoS with Miral.

The pizza was gone. "Do you want another one?"

"No, but I could use a beer. Real beer, not that synth crap."

Harry considered. He was the captain; he had the authority to replicate real alcohol. It was against protocol to give alcohol to prisoners, but Tom would probably never have access to real alcohol again, where he was headed. Harry got up, and returned with a large, frosty mug of Tom's favorite brew. "For old time's sake," he said, and handed it to Tom.

"Thanks." Tom took a long draught, then sighed contentedly. He offered the mug to Harry. They'd often shared drinks on _Voyager_.

Harry shook his head. "I'm on duty."

"Still the most upstanding officer in Starfleet, eh, Harry?"

_Not really. Not for a long time now_. But he didn't want to talk about that. "How's Miral?" he said instead.

Tom shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't seen her for years."

Harry was surprised. He expected Tom to remain in Miral's life. Ironic, how Tom and B'Elanna had ended up mirroring what B'Elanna's parents had done, despite their determination not to.

Tom continued. "She's kind of the opposite of her mother. She wants to be all Klingon, all the time, and her human blood is an embarrassment to her."

"She's still young. I'm sure she'll reconsider as she matures."

Tom snorted, and took another swig of beer. "What about you? How's your family? Got any kids?"

"My parents died a few months ago. Just a few weeks apart. I think Dad died of a broken heart after he lost Mom."

"I'm sorry."

"They were in their nineties, so it wasn't a surprise. They had a good life." He decided to leave, before Tom could ask more questions. "I have to get back to the bridge. You'll be monitored, of course, so if Griffin or his friends try anything, they won't get away with it."

"And if I try anything, I won't get away with it either."

Harry didn't reply. He took the empty dishes with him to be recycled as he left.

* * *

Harry couldn't get Tom out of his mind. The last person in the universe he ever expected to see again. Like a ghost from another lifetime. He went to see him again the next day. Ensign Lee was on duty. She was more trustworthy than Lt. Griffin, but Harry still ordered her to stand guard outside the brig door.

Tom was watching him curiously. "What do you want for dinner?" Harry asked.

"A hamburger. With french fries. And mayo, like they served them at Sandrine's. And another beer."

Harry replicated the meal, and took it into the cell, raising the force field behind him.

He sat beside Tom as he dug enthusiastically into his dinner. It brought back memories — what a treat replicated meals were, when they were stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Though by the end, Neelix had learned to cook food that humans found appealing. Or maybe they'd just gotten used to it. He wondered what the Talaxian was up to these days, if he was still alive. Harry had imagined that by now, the Federation would have expanded enough so that he would be able to visit Neelix, or Neelix and his family could visit the Alpha Quadrant. It hadn't worked out that way. The Federation seemed to be contracting, not expanding.

"Replicator ration for your thoughts?"

"Not worth it," Harry assured him.

"Tell me anyway."

"Just wondering how it came to this. I never imagined this future."

"You and me both."

"Why are you with the Ravsai?" It was what was bothering Harry the most. Despite Tom's past, he would never have imagined he would join a violent criminal organization. Now he would probably spend the rest of his life in prison. Maybe even the New Zealand Penal Settlement, the same one Janeway had fished him out of.

"It's complicated. Maybe I'll tell you one day." Tom ate the last french fry, and took a long swig of beer. "So, why didn't you ever get married? You always seemed like the wife and two kids, a cat, and a golden retriever type to me."

Harry shut his eyes. It wasn't something he spoke of casually, but Tom had been his best friend once. And Harry didn't want to deny his family's existence by never talking about them. Part of him felt he had to, to keep their memories alive. He took a deep breath. "I had a wife and twin sons. I could have brought them with me. My ship had family quarters. I thought it would be safer to leave them on Mars."

"Harry…" Tom's voice so soft it was barely audible.

Harry knew what Tom was asking. He shook his head. "Gabriel and Kenner would have turned sixteen last month if…" _If they'd lived_.

"Jeez, I'm so sorry." Tom's arms came around him. He wondered if Tom would try to break his neck again, but he didn't. It was just a hug. He hesitated a moment, then returned it.

Then he stood up. It was time to leave. He couldn't leave Ensign Lee out in the corridor too long. It would raise questions. He was gathering up the empty dishes when Tom said, "Harry…it's all right."

Harry didn't know what he was talking about for a moment. What happened to his wife and sons would never be all right.

But that's not what Tom meant. "Don't feel bad about taking me in. It's your job. I brought it on myself. I can't blame anyone but myself and my choices."

Harry nodded, and left.

* * *

It was the middle of gamma shift when Harry went down to the brig again. No one was on duty: he'd arranged the roster so there was no guard scheduled. An apparent oversight, that no one had caught.

Tom was asleep. Harry lowered the force field, then raised it again. He shook Tom's shoulder. Tom was up instantly, his fist swinging. Harry barely dodged it. "It's okay, Tom," he whispered. "It's me."

"Sorry," Tom said. "It's not a good idea to sneak up on me. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm letting you go."

Tom just stared. He clearly hadn't been expecting this. Harry took his hand and pulled him to his feet, then ordered the computer to beam them to the shuttle bay.

"Won't this trigger an alarm?" Tom said, as they materialized inside the _Rhode Island'_ s fastest shuttle.

"I've disabled the alarm." Between his command codes and his years of experience at Ops in the Delta Quadrant, Harry was confident that it would be quite awhile before anyone noticed they were missing. "There's also this." He held up the cylindrical device he'd brought. "A little project I've been working on in my spare time." He began hooking it up to the shuttle's main console. "It's a cloaking device. Better than most." He finished connecting it. "It's simple. Press this button to turn it on, and this one to turn it off. Works at both warp drive and impulse."

"Thanks, Harry. I owe you one."

"Just do me a favor. Try not to kill any civilians?" He didn't know what crimes Tom had committed, and he didn't want to know. He just hoped there wouldn't be innocent blood on his own hands for this.

Tom nodded, then asked, "Are you going to be okay? Aren't they going to suspect…?"

Yes, they were. Harry had a plan for that, too. He took the phaser from his belt, and adjusted it to max. He handed it to Tom. "Kill me."

Tom raised his brows. He seemed at a loss for words. Finally, he said, "That seems a bit drastic."

"They won't believe I didn't intentionally let you go," Harry said. "I'd spend the rest of my life in prison."

"I could beat you up a little, make it look good."

Harry shook his head. He was sure that wouldn't work. "Kill me. It's all right. I want you to."

"What's happened to you, Harry?"

"Starfleet isn't what it used to be. I'm not who I used to be. The only reason I stayed in so long is because my parents were so proud. They're gone now."

Tom's mouth opened and closed several times. Then his expression hardened, and he raised the phaser, aiming it at Harry's chest. But he still didn't shoot. "Close your eyes," Tom finally said. "I can't do it with you looking at me."

Harry closed his eyes, bracing himself. He heard the whine of the phaser, then everything went dark.

* * *

Slowly, he became aware of little things. The low vibration of a warp engine. The scent of recycled air. The soft beeping of equipment. He opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the ceiling of a shuttlecraft.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said. Tom.

"If this is the afterlife, I'm really disappointed." He had already figured out what had happened. He had the headache that was the usual result of a phaser stun. "Damn it, Tom, I trusted you."

A hypo hissed against his neck. The headache immediately faded. "Sorry, Har. I just couldn't do it."

"So now what?" Harry asked. He pushed himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed he'd been lying on. "Am I your prisoner now?"

"No," Tom said. "I'll drop you off if you want. Any place not too close to Starfleet. Or if you insist on suicide, you can do it yourself."

Harry thought about it. Neither option sounded very attractive. He could not go back to Starfleet. And of course, he could have killed himself any time he wanted to. It had been one thing when he thought there was a reason: to save Tom. But now…it just didn't seem as appealing.

"Or you could join me," Tom said.

"I'm not really the criminal gang type."

"Harry…I'm risking a lot telling you this, but we go back a long way, so…I'm not really in a member of the Ravsai."

"You're not?"

"I'm undercover, with Section 31. You could be, too."

Harry frowned. "That might be worse than the Ravsai."

"It's not, Harry, I promise. We're trying to make things better."

Harry had serious doubts about that. Tom read his skepticism.

"Come on, Harry. I wouldn't be involved if I didn't believe in what they were doing. Trust me."

" _Trust_ you?"

"I remember the young ensign, ink still wet on his commission, who defied his superiors to befriend me. A convicted felon. For all you knew, I would be back in prison in a few weeks, and Cavit would still be there, in a position to make your life hell. I remember the man who was going to die with me, when he could have saved himself. 'This man is my friend. No one touches him.' I'm still that Tom, and I think you're still that Harry."

Harry wasn't so sure about that. But thinking about it…since Tom was brought on the _Rhode Island_ , he'd been a friend. More or less. Despite his tough words, he hadn't hurt Harry even when he had the opportunity. Maybe this _was_ the Tom he remembered.

He wasn't the Harry Tom remembered, but maybe he could be again. "All right," he said. "I trust you."

And Tom's answering grin was the same sweet, boyish smile he'd had back when they first met, almost thirty years ago.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by what Garrett Wang and Robbie McNeill have said about what they thought were the futures of their characters. Garrett said Harry would get married and have twin boys named Kenner and Gabriel. (Sorry, Garrett, I killed 'em off.)
> 
> Robbie said he thinks Tom would be a spy, who appears to be a bad guy but really isn't. This touched off a discussion on Tumblr about Tom Paris, Section 31 agent.


End file.
